I should also mention that not this weekend but the weekend before, I finally took the LSAT.
I suspect I did very okay.
I took LSAT classes off and on from February through late August. I didn't do much of the homework, though, because I kept being busy and had a hard time paying attention to it.
I thought about re-scheduling it again (which costs like $80), but decided I definitely wasn't going to have more time to study for the December test. Or the February or June tests. I'm not even really sure I want to do law school anymore. If I do, I suspect I'll want to re-take the LSAT sometime after I've finished my undergrad. When I'll actually have time to study and do all of the homework.
My test-taking experience was all right. The LSAT administration on the U of U campus is in the engineering building, which is actually pretty nice. My room didn't have the door open when everyone was supposed to be checking in, so a lot of people waited outside instead of just coming in, and our group got started later.
I was a little nervous because I usually use the timer on my cellphone to keep track of my time on each section. For the LSAT you are allowed to bring an analog watch, which I have, but the morning of the test I couldn't find it. I went just hoping that my room would have a clock. It did. And that was fine.
It was kind of interesting to see how people approached the test differently. You're allowed to bring a gallon bag with a few things in it: 3-4 pencils. Erasers. A highlighter. An analog watch. A juice box or drink in a bottle no more than 20oz. A snack, ONLY FOR THE BREAK. Your ID. Your wallet and keys. Medical items, for those who need them.
It was funny, though, because some people had like a dozen pencils. Seriously, though. Like, the bottom of their bag was full of pencils. I would love to watch someone take a test and actually use 12+ pencils. What, do you use each pencil for one answer bubble? And then there was this guy like, diagonal from me. He had ONE pencil with one of those bigger pink erasers that you can put on the end of a pencil. And that was about it. Most people had watches. A few other people didn't. Most people had gallon bags. This one guy had his stuff in like, a grocery bag. A few people didn't bring bags at all. I felt really weird not having my cellphone, but I think if it was OFF and in my pocket and I left it alone, nobody would have cared.
There was kind of a funny/awkward moment at the beginning. The girl who was administrating the test said: "It's hot in here. Are you guys hot in here?" And I never am, but a bunch of other people agreed with her. She adjusted the thermostat and then walked across the room and muttered, "Maybe I'm just having hot flashes. I haven't had my period in a few months." But like, she muttered it loud enough that the whole room (70-ish people) heard. And we all kind of looked around, like, did she just say that? And she had.
Also, she had a lisp. Which would not be such a big deal except that when we got to the writing Sample teSt aSSeSSment she kept having problems reading the instructions. She put her head down and was like, sorry guys, and told us she was just not with it today. Poor girl.
There were a lot of questions I didn't get to. I think that's partly because I hadn't studied recently. I'll get my results by e-mail about 3 weeks from my test date.
I'm hanging onto my test prep materials in case I decide to try again in a year or so, but it feels good to (kind of) be done.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Welcome Ella! (part three)
Paley stayed missing. We didn't see her at all on Saturday.
I visited Ella a lot. I held her and rubbed her, and we played. She really loves chasing ribbons.
It was kind of sad because I would go outside and call Paley, and she wouldn't come. "PAAAAALEY!!!" "WHEEEEERE'S PALEY?" (We used to play this game in my Salt Lake apartment. When I couldn't find Paley, I'd call her. "Paaaaley! Where's Paley?" while I would look for her. Occasionally she would be in plain sight when I'd do it. When I'd call her, though, she would come to me, wherever she had been, and meow meow meow urgently so that I would see her and could give her attention.) "KIIIIIITTTTTTTTY? WHERE'S PALEY?"
Nothing.
Once I saw her run across the backyard, but it wasn't her. It was a mostly-black cat that is skinnier than Paley and that I've caught in our garage, eating Paley's food two or three times. It always runs off.
And sometimes Ella would hear me calling and know that I was nearby, and she would start meowing. Which would sometimes make me think for a minute that I had found Paley, except that it wasn't Pae. I'd go pet her anyway. Ella gets a ton of attention from us.
Paley has her collar and tag, and she's microchipped, so I hoped that she would come back from her adventure soon, or that someone would call or e-mail saying that they had found her. I knew she wasn't thrilled about Ella, but I didn't think she was so upset that she would leave!
Sunday between conference sessions, we were pulling out of J's driveway and he stopped for something, and he called, "Paley?" "Paley!" I thought maybe he had seen the other cat run past. He said he'd heard a meow, but he wasn't sure from where and he hadn't heard it again. The neighbors all have cats, so who knows.
AND THEN! Sunday night we were back at J's house again and I was calling for her: "PAAAALEY! WHEEEEERE'S PALEY?" and I heard meowing. I tried to follow where it was coming from and I thought maybe she was under one of the cars in the front driveway. It was raining, so that would have made sense. But as I leaned down to look under the car, I couldn't see her, and I could tell the meow wasn't coming from there.
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It was coming from an irrigation pipe that was blocked with a big brick. Paley was under the driveway. There's no way she could have gotten in there, so she must have gone in one of the irrigation pipes somewhere else and seen the light from that end in the driveway, and kept trying to get out there. Poor kitty! The pipe is about 6" wide, too, so there's no way she could have turned around.
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I was so relieved to find her. We brought her stuff into the hallway between the garage and J's house, and she was HUNGRY. Ella ran out to greet her. They sniffed each other for 30 seconds or something, and then hissed. It was for sure progress, though, because Paley would not have sniffed Ella or let Ella sniff her before. So they're still not best friends, but they're warming up to each other. Good.
Next step: Sometime in the next few days we need to get Ella a collar and tag. (I know that for the tag we want a nice silver one like Paley's. But what kind of collar do we want? Ells is white and orange and gray. What color would match her?) It is also time for her booster shots. And then she should be ready to start going outside. She wants to. I've seen her chase a couple flies and they FASCINATE her. She has also tried to run outside a couple times.
Anyway, that's about the end of the cat update. The kitties are getting along a little better. Paley is found. Ella loves loves attention. (She purrs so thoroughly that sometimes when I'm holding her I think my cellphone is vibrating and it's actually not.) I think she's adjusting pretty well. She seems happy.
And we'll all live happily ever after. The End.
I visited Ella a lot. I held her and rubbed her, and we played. She really loves chasing ribbons.
It was kind of sad because I would go outside and call Paley, and she wouldn't come. "PAAAAALEY!!!" "WHEEEEERE'S PALEY?" (We used to play this game in my Salt Lake apartment. When I couldn't find Paley, I'd call her. "Paaaaley! Where's Paley?" while I would look for her. Occasionally she would be in plain sight when I'd do it. When I'd call her, though, she would come to me, wherever she had been, and meow meow meow urgently so that I would see her and could give her attention.) "KIIIIIITTTTTTTTY? WHERE'S PALEY?"
Nothing.
Once I saw her run across the backyard, but it wasn't her. It was a mostly-black cat that is skinnier than Paley and that I've caught in our garage, eating Paley's food two or three times. It always runs off.
And sometimes Ella would hear me calling and know that I was nearby, and she would start meowing. Which would sometimes make me think for a minute that I had found Paley, except that it wasn't Pae. I'd go pet her anyway. Ella gets a ton of attention from us.
Paley has her collar and tag, and she's microchipped, so I hoped that she would come back from her adventure soon, or that someone would call or e-mail saying that they had found her. I knew she wasn't thrilled about Ella, but I didn't think she was so upset that she would leave!
Sunday between conference sessions, we were pulling out of J's driveway and he stopped for something, and he called, "Paley?" "Paley!" I thought maybe he had seen the other cat run past. He said he'd heard a meow, but he wasn't sure from where and he hadn't heard it again. The neighbors all have cats, so who knows.
AND THEN! Sunday night we were back at J's house again and I was calling for her: "PAAAALEY! WHEEEEERE'S PALEY?" and I heard meowing. I tried to follow where it was coming from and I thought maybe she was under one of the cars in the front driveway. It was raining, so that would have made sense. But as I leaned down to look under the car, I couldn't see her, and I could tell the meow wasn't coming from there.
.jpg)
It was coming from an irrigation pipe that was blocked with a big brick. Paley was under the driveway. There's no way she could have gotten in there, so she must have gone in one of the irrigation pipes somewhere else and seen the light from that end in the driveway, and kept trying to get out there. Poor kitty! The pipe is about 6" wide, too, so there's no way she could have turned around.
.jpg)
I was so relieved to find her. We brought her stuff into the hallway between the garage and J's house, and she was HUNGRY. Ella ran out to greet her. They sniffed each other for 30 seconds or something, and then hissed. It was for sure progress, though, because Paley would not have sniffed Ella or let Ella sniff her before. So they're still not best friends, but they're warming up to each other. Good.
Next step: Sometime in the next few days we need to get Ella a collar and tag. (I know that for the tag we want a nice silver one like Paley's. But what kind of collar do we want? Ells is white and orange and gray. What color would match her?) It is also time for her booster shots. And then she should be ready to start going outside. She wants to. I've seen her chase a couple flies and they FASCINATE her. She has also tried to run outside a couple times.
Anyway, that's about the end of the cat update. The kitties are getting along a little better. Paley is found. Ella loves loves attention. (She purrs so thoroughly that sometimes when I'm holding her I think my cellphone is vibrating and it's actually not.) I think she's adjusting pretty well. She seems happy.
And we'll all live happily ever after. The End.
Welcome Ella! (part two)
So, on Tuesday, BJ and Tianna brought Ella over!
We were pretty excited about it.
Something kind of funny is, we started talking about how Ella would be J's cat. Jess and Mitch have two cats, and Annie really decided she was Jessica's cat, and Alley decided she was Mitch's cat. So they each have a cat. I told J that I already had Paley so we should let Ella be his.
I asked him if he liked the name "Ella" since Tianna mentioned on the blog that Ella probably wouldn't notice if her new family changed her name. J said he didn't. I asked him what he thought we should call her. He said "Kitty," which I thought was funny since that was what they had called her anyway, but J didn't know. (Her name is still Ella, and we sometimes call her Ella and sometimes call her Kitty.)
So, anyway, BJ, Tianna, and Kessa brought Ella over to meet Paley and see Ella's new home. They thought Ella would really have fun climbing trees. They brought Ella in a carrier that they had borrowed and I had Paley in her carrier, so we faced the little cages towards each other let them hiss at each other for a little bit.
And then BJ, Tianna, and Kessa left. Ella was mad. She hissed, and growled, and batted, and scratched, and bit me, and J wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. He'd never seen a cat so mean. Ella is still pretty small, so I was still able to hang onto her, but it became really clear that she needed to go back into Paley's carrier. I reminded J that Ella was scared. I reminded him that a week ago she had been left somewhere strange (maybe for the first time) and she had ended up with shots and surgery, which are not very pleasant. J agreed that it made sense. She would feel better later, I told him.
And she did! We left her and Paley in one of the garage rooms, with the door closed. Paley was out and Ella was in the cat carrier. We came back in a few hours and let Ella out. It was a difference of night and day. She purred and purred, and rubbed up against J. Ella loves to be held and loves to be rubbed and scratched.
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Paley and Ella are becoming better acquainted. At first they always hissed and growled at each other. And then Ella stopped being hissy and became curious. Paley opened the door and came out into the main garage, and when I brought her back (for food and the litter box) later, she was still not excited about Ella, but Ella followed her around. I put Paley's food/water/litter on the workbench area, and left Ella's on the ground. Ella wanted to watch Paley, and kept trying to get closer to her. Paley growled and hissed. Paley tried to leave the garage room again, and Ella followed her to play with her tail. Paley growled and hissed. So Ella hissed back.
The next day, Paley had somehow gotten out of the garage. I went into the backyard and called her. "PAAAAAALEY!" "WHEEEEEERE'S PALEY?" and she came running! She was excited to see me. The door from the garage to the hallway (where she usually would go out) was closed, so I don't know how she got out of the garage, but I took her back inside for food, etc. She let Ella get a bit closer, but they were still hissy.
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And then the next day, Paley disappeared. I called her and called her, and she didn't come. I had been planning to blog about getting Ella, but it seemed kind of weird and sad to blog about how WE GOT ELLA!!! (and by the way, Paley is missing.) ...to be continued.
We were pretty excited about it.
Something kind of funny is, we started talking about how Ella would be J's cat. Jess and Mitch have two cats, and Annie really decided she was Jessica's cat, and Alley decided she was Mitch's cat. So they each have a cat. I told J that I already had Paley so we should let Ella be his.
I asked him if he liked the name "Ella" since Tianna mentioned on the blog that Ella probably wouldn't notice if her new family changed her name. J said he didn't. I asked him what he thought we should call her. He said "Kitty," which I thought was funny since that was what they had called her anyway, but J didn't know. (Her name is still Ella, and we sometimes call her Ella and sometimes call her Kitty.)
So, anyway, BJ, Tianna, and Kessa brought Ella over to meet Paley and see Ella's new home. They thought Ella would really have fun climbing trees. They brought Ella in a carrier that they had borrowed and I had Paley in her carrier, so we faced the little cages towards each other let them hiss at each other for a little bit.
And then BJ, Tianna, and Kessa left. Ella was mad. She hissed, and growled, and batted, and scratched, and bit me, and J wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. He'd never seen a cat so mean. Ella is still pretty small, so I was still able to hang onto her, but it became really clear that she needed to go back into Paley's carrier. I reminded J that Ella was scared. I reminded him that a week ago she had been left somewhere strange (maybe for the first time) and she had ended up with shots and surgery, which are not very pleasant. J agreed that it made sense. She would feel better later, I told him.
And she did! We left her and Paley in one of the garage rooms, with the door closed. Paley was out and Ella was in the cat carrier. We came back in a few hours and let Ella out. It was a difference of night and day. She purred and purred, and rubbed up against J. Ella loves to be held and loves to be rubbed and scratched.
.jpg)
Paley and Ella are becoming better acquainted. At first they always hissed and growled at each other. And then Ella stopped being hissy and became curious. Paley opened the door and came out into the main garage, and when I brought her back (for food and the litter box) later, she was still not excited about Ella, but Ella followed her around. I put Paley's food/water/litter on the workbench area, and left Ella's on the ground. Ella wanted to watch Paley, and kept trying to get closer to her. Paley growled and hissed. Paley tried to leave the garage room again, and Ella followed her to play with her tail. Paley growled and hissed. So Ella hissed back.
The next day, Paley had somehow gotten out of the garage. I went into the backyard and called her. "PAAAAAALEY!" "WHEEEEEERE'S PALEY?" and she came running! She was excited to see me. The door from the garage to the hallway (where she usually would go out) was closed, so I don't know how she got out of the garage, but I took her back inside for food, etc. She let Ella get a bit closer, but they were still hissy.
.jpg)
And then the next day, Paley disappeared. I called her and called her, and she didn't come. I had been planning to blog about getting Ella, but it seemed kind of weird and sad to blog about how WE GOT ELLA!!! (and by the way, Paley is missing.) ...to be continued.
Welcome Ella! (part one)
Welcome Ella!
On Tuesday, J and I had the privilege of welcoming Ella to his house.
Jess was actually the one who suggested it. She texted me on 18 September.
Jess: Do you want another kitten?
Me: I don’t think so. Thanks anyway.
Jess: Paley likes friends. And besides, they’re outside.
Jess: Remember, you wanted a friend for Paley.
[At this point, I remembered signs that were up at the Humane Society when I adopted Pae that said stuff about how having two cats is better than one. And I remembered how I had seriously considered getting another cat because Paley gets lonely. Whenever I’m home she thinks I’m there to entertain her. At the time, I decided my apartment was too small for two energetic kittens and got I Paley a fun cat tree instead.]
Me: A canine friend, though. J is super allergic to cats. How old is it?
Jess: Farms can have lots of pets. She’s six months.
Me: Is she spayed? What does she look like?
Jess: Yes, I think so. She’s a calico and actually really cute. She’s still kitten-ish size.
Me: Why does she need a new home?
[Remember? Jess and I had Abby, and she was beautiful, and she had good manners, but she was a terrible cat.]
Jess: Ugh. Her family had a baby.
[Totally understandable. Also, at this point I was thinking it was one of Jessica’s co-workers or cohort people, or something since they’re always getting married and having babies.]
Jess: Also, she loves water like Pae!
[Paley does love water. Silly cat.]
Jess: Mmkay. You should also see pictures of her and read about her. They’re on BJ and Tianna’s blog.
[I thought about this for a second and at first thought they were advertising a cat for someone else, and then it dawned on me: BJ and Tianna have a kitten. And they had a baby fairly recently.]
Me: Ohhhhhhhhh. It’s BJ & Tianna’s kitty.
Me: I read their blog, so I know her.
Jess: And like her?!
Me: Yeah. I don’t know that they would want her to become an outside cat, though, would they?
Me: Huh. Jeff actually said yes.
[He did! I was pretty surprised. And then I worried that when I asked him if it was okay for Paley to have a friend he might have not realized he was agreeing to us getting another cat. But it turned out he did know.]
Jess: Really?! I’m not sure they’d care. As long as you love her.
Me: Huh. I guess I’ll call them.
Me: Or maybe just e-mail. [Tianna was on Gmail chat, so I just talked to her there.]
(a bit later)
Me: Looks like Paley is getting a new friend.
Jess: Really?! Paley likes friends!
Me: Yeahhh, Paley will like it.
Jess: Well, you did say she thinks you need to be her friend all the time.
Me: Oh, I didn’t tell her that.
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